Bag handle



I. H. SIR-IS July 7, 1970 BAG HANDLE Filed Oct. 29, 1968 INVENTOR. IRWIN HERBERT SIRIS MIMI f' I i '2' ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,519,110 BAG HANDLE Irwin Herbert Siris, Rye, N.Y., assignor to A. J. Sirls Products Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Oct. 29, 1968, Ser. No. 771,527 Int. Cl. B65d 25/28 U.S. Cl. 19058 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A handle for a bag such as a hand bag, travel case or the like, fabricated of a single length of hollow plastic material formed into a closed loop with a reinforcing member within a portion of the hollow plastic to maintain separated the portions of the handle to be attached to the bag.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to a bag handle of simplified and improved construction which maintains the portions to be attached to the bag in separated condition for stiffening. While handles are well known in this art, the handle of the instant invention can be quickly fabricated to form a completely finished article with minimal parts and at minimal cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Generally speaking, in accordance with the invention, a length of hollow plastic material has its ends looped around in abutment. A reinforcing member is inserted within the hollow plastic member as the ends are brought in abutment with a portion of the reinforcing member projecting into each hollow end. The continuous loop formed by the ends in abutment is clasped at opposite ends of the reinforcing member with one of the clasps overlying the abutment. The clasps define small loops of plastic material through which the handle may be secured to a bag such as a travel case.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a bag handle of improved construction.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bag handle formed of flexible material which can be readily reinforced to stiffen a portion of the handle.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved handle formed of a continuous length of material which has a completely finished appearance.

Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification.

The invention accordingly comprises an article of manufacture possessing the features, properties, and the relation of elements which will be exemplified in the article hereinafter described, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING For a fuller understanding of the invention, reference is had to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bag handle constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the instant invention with the travel case to which the handle is attached being shown in phantom;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a developed length of material from which the FIG. I handle is fabricated;

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view taken along line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view taken along line 44 of FIG. 1; and

3,519,110 Patented July 7, 1970 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, the bag handle of the instant invention is indicated generally at 11 and is attached to any type of bag or case indicated at 12 in phantom lines. While not limited thereto, the handle of the instant invention is preferably utilized with a bag which is somewhat flexible since the handle is capable of maintaining in separated relationship the portions of the bag to which the handle is attached. Such feature is a result of the construction of the handle as will now be described.

The principal element of handle 11 is a continuous length of hollow tubing 13 which has been cut to a predetermined size. The tubing may be a plastic or vinyl tubing extruded with one or more central passages 14 and the cut length of tubing indicated in FIG. 2 will have an attractive finish since it will form the principal element of the completed handle.

A reinforcing member 15 which may be a metal rod is inserted partially into a central passage 14 with the length of the metal rod being approximately equal to the desired spacing of the attachments of the handle to the bag. The end of the tubing into which the major length of reinforcing member 15 is inserted is indicated as 16 and the opposite end is indicated as 17. With a short length of reinforcing member projecting out of tubing 13 beyond end 16, the handle is looped around to bring end 17 into abutment with end 16 and advance the projecting end of reinforcing member 15 into said opposite end of the tubing as best seen in FIG. 4. In other words, as seen in FIG. 4, a short length of reinforcing member 15 is received in the right hand end of tubing 13 commencing at end 17 and the major length of reinforcing member 15 is received in the hollow tubing commencing at end 16 with ends 16 and 17 being in abutment. The ends of the tubing may be held in abutment by means of a staple 19. A clip or ferrule 21 is clamped over two layers of tubing at the joint between ends 16 and 17. Clip 21 may be formed of metal and, as shown in FIG. 5, tightly grips the two layers of tubing together. The ends of the clip may be serrated for improved grip on the tubing. The clip securely holds ends 16 and 17 in abutment, whether or not staple 19 is utilized, and, since a layer of tubing overlies the joint, the joint is effectively finished since the cut ends of the tubing are now hidden from view. The placement of clip 21 defines a small loop 22 at one end of the handle which may receive a D-ring 23 for attaching the end of the handle to the bag. Other suitable means may also be utilized to attach the handle to the bag through loop 22. The opposite end of the handle is shown in FIG. 3 wherein a second clip or ferrule 24 is secured over two layers of tubing 13 in the same manner as clip 21. At the end shown in FIG. 3, there is no tubing joint but the clip is so located as to define a loop 25 to accommodate a D-ring 26 or other suitable means for securing the other end of the handle to a bag.

As seen in FIG. 1, the completed handle comprises a straight section 27, looped ends 22 and 25 and a carrying portion 28 in the form of a loop which can be of any dimension and will depend on the length of hollow material selected in the first instance. Running substantially the full length of straight section 27 is at least one reinforcing member 15 which thus maintains the handle in a relatively rigid condition and maintains the spacing of loops 22 and 25. If desired, two or more reinforcing members 15 can be utilized and the tubing can be provided with two or more central passages. Each central passage need not be provided with a reinforcing member. Thereafter, if the handle is connected to a flexible bag at looped ends 22 and 25, the points of connection will be maintained separate to give shape to a flexible bag. Thus, the handle of the instant invention is especially suited for bags which are completely or partially flexible. However, the handle described herein is also suitable for use on a travel case or relatively rigid bag since the handle can be easily and inexpensively fabricated and imparts a handsome and finished appearance.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above article Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description and shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of langauge, might be said to fall therebetween.

What is claimed is:

1. A handle for a bag comprising a preselected length of hollow flexible tubing having terminal ends, at least one reinforcing member having opposite ends extending into said hollow tubing from said terminal ends, said terminal ends being in abutment, said tubing being folded back on itself beyond the ends of said reinforcing member, and clip means securing said tubing in said folded position, said clip means being located proximate the ends of said reinforcing member, one of said clip means being located to include the terminal ends of said hollow tub- 2. A handle for a bag as claimed in claim 1 wherein the length of said tubing is greater than twice the length of said reinforcing member.

3. A handle for a bag as claimed in claim 1 wherein said clip means is located intermediate the ends of said reinforcing member.

4. A handle for a bag as claimed in claim 3 wherein said clip means comprises two spaced clips, each of said clips extending about two layers of tubing for clamping together said layers of tubing and the portion of said reinforcing member Within one of said layers of tubing.

5. A handle for a bag as claimed in claim 4 wherein a portion of said two layers of tubing extend beyond each said clip to define a loop through which said handle may be attached to a bag.

6. A handle for a bag as claimed in claim 1 wherein said one clip means includes means for securing the terminal ends of said hollow tubing in abutment.

7. A handle for a bag as claimed in claim 1 wherein said reinforcing member is an elongated rod.

8. A handle for a bag as claimed in claim 1 wherein said hollow flexible tubing is formed as extruded plastic material.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS ROBERT G. SHERIDAN, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 224 

